Zygmunt Rumel

Zygmunt Jan Rumel (22 February 1915 – 10 July 1943) was a Polish poet and, during World War II, underground officer of the Bataliony Chłopskie partisans in the Volhynia Region of the Second Polish Republic. Rumel's poetic talent was acknowledged by renowned Polish poet Leopold Staff and dramatist Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. One of his poems entitled "Dwie matki" (Two mothers) in which Rumel described his love of Poland and Ukraine, was published in a popular Płomyk magazine in 1935 (issue No. 28). He was killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia in 1943.

Life Rumel, whose talent was often compared to the one of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, was born in Saint Petersburg during World War I, and grew up in Krzemieniec in the Wołyń Voivodeship province of the Second Polish Republic. The exact location of his birth has not been confirmed. He came from a military family, his father Władysław, an agricultural engineer, was also an officer of the Polish Army who fought in the Polish–Soviet War and was awarded the Cross of Virtuti Militari. Some time in the 1920s, the family settled in Volhynia as military osadniks.

On 7 July 1943, Rumel, together with officer Krzysztof Markiewicz (aka Czort), both dressed in military uniforms, aided by guide Witold Dobrowolski, Both were brutally tortured for three days. Then, on Saturday 10 July, Rumel was tied to four horses and his body ripped apart. Markiewicz and Dobrowolski were killed in the same manner in the village of Kustycze, near the Volhynian town of Turzyska. The next day, Sunday 11 July 1943, was the bloodiest day yet of the Volhynian massacres, when armed Ukrainians attacked Polish settlements and churches, killing thousands of people, including infants, women, and the elderly.

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, upon hearing of Rumel's death, wrote in his diary: "He was one of our diamonds, with which we shot at the enemy. This diamond could have shone..."

Works The First Rumel's poems were published in 1934 in a school bulletin. He kept most of his work to himself, and did not aspire to have them published. Manuscripts of his poems were kept by his wife, who was a nurse in the Warsaw Uprising and survived the war. The first publication of selected works of Rumel, edited by Anna Kamienska, was issued in 1975, and was highly praised by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz who wrote: "Rumel had a mind and talent on an original scale".

According to Polish literary critic Bozena Gorska, Rumel's poetry was strongly influenced by the works of Juliusz Słowacki and Cyprian Kamil Norwid. He rarely drew inspiration from the works of Polish avant-garde poets, but in some of his poems influences of Leopold Staff and Boleslaw Lesmian can be found. Rumel felt close to the Volhynian folk culture, and frequently used Ukrainian and Russian words. He also wrote about Polish historical subjects, best exemplified in his poem "The Year 1863".

Legacy In 2004, Polish film director Wincenty Ronisz produced a documentary Poeta nieznany (Unknown poet), which describes the life and death of Rumel. Rumel is also the patron of several clubs of young Polish poets. However, he remains little known to the majority of Polish people. On 10 February 2011, a Public Library in Warsaw's borough of Praga-South was named after him. Also, there are streets named after him in Gdańsk and Legnica.